Michael J. Sullivan (Author of Age of Myth BOTM) Q&A

[Ryan]

Great characters and setting Michael. Are the Riyria books medieval themed or later?

[Michael]

Greg wrote: "Just finished Michael ... extremely enjoyable! It was a wonderful change after the darkness of A Little Life (which I finished just before this one - an extraordinarily beautiful book."

Hey Greg, thanks for reading and I'm glad you liked it.

Greg wrote: "Anyway, no question here really, just comments. I'm looking forward to the next one. Hopefully there's more coming up with the Dherg at some point; I'm curious to read more about them.

Originally, when the series was three books. I had them titled Rhune, Dherg, Fhrey. So book #2 had a major portion of it devoted to that race. The series later extended to six books but that focus on the Dherg for book #2 remained - so, yeah. More of the wee men coming in book #2. That one, BTW, is my favorite of the six. Can't wait until others have a chance to read it.

[Michael]

Ryan wrote: "Great characters and setting Michael. Are the Riyria books medieval themed or later?"

Elan is an invented world, but yes Riyria is classical fantasy in a semi-Medieval setting. It's not 100% as there are things such as giant sailing ships, but in general there are castles, knights, swords, and such.

I have a few free shorts (The Viscount and the Witch and The Jester in ebook and Professional Integrity and The Jester in audio) that you can check out to see if the style works for you or not. If you like those shorts, chances are really good that you'll enjoy the longer novels. I hope you check them out.

[Greg]

Michael wrote: "The series later extended to six books but that focus on the Dherg for book #2 remained - so, yeah. More of the wee men coming in book #2. ..."

Well that clinched it, I'll definitely be reading it as soon as it comes out! I'm glad that you wrote them in advance so there shouldn't be years of waiting!

[Michael]

Greg wrote: "Well that clinched it, I'll definitely be reading it as soon as it comes out! I'm glad that you wrote them in advance so there shouldn't be years of waiting! "

Great! Yeah, I JUST got done with edits to the last book a few days ago. There's a big difference between "written" and "done" - but I feel much better now that I have things wrapped up the way I wanted them. Books 4, 5, and 6 needed quite a bit of work. In fact, when I did my first draft it was only 5 books.

Robin, my wife, is preparing book #2 for beta reading. So I'll have some feedback on it soon. Both of us think it's really strong - here's hoping it won't need much in the way of changes. Then it'll be off to the publisher to see what they think. So, yeah, still a lot of work to do on the series to get the books "out there" but much of that will be done by others and soon I'll be able to focus on writing something new.

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

I read this book in August but avoided the thread until I was finished -- and then forgot to check it out.

That ending did surprise me. I like how the women characters are still real women, not characters who act like macho guys and have no personality but are still supposed to be women.

The Riyria legends say Persephone was the wife of Novron, so I'm very interested to see how that will turn out.

[Ryan]

Spoilers Audrey!!!

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

It's right there in Theft of Swords!

[Ryan]

I've only read Age of Myth!

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Well, I'm sure the actual events will vary from the legend. You shouldn't know who Novron is anyway, then.

[Ryan]

Isn't he Elfy McPointyears the leader of the warrior Fhrey in Age of Myth?

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

That's Nyphron.

[Ryan]

Ah ok. I read it on audiobook.

[Michael]

Audrey wrote: The Riyria legends say Persephone was the wife of Novron, so I'm very interested to see how that will turn out."

It does indeed, but one of the really cool things about this series is the ability to explore the truth behind historical events. We'l have to see if they (a) get married in the future and (b) if they do how happily married they are. Just because the history books said so doesn't mean it's so ;-)

[Michael]

Ryan wrote: "Spoilers Audrey!!!"

She may not be spoiling anything. She is reporting what "history" says about the pair - what you are reading is the reality of what occurred. They may not be the same thing ;-)

[Audrey, Queen of the Potato People]

Michael wrote: "Ryan wrote: "Spoilers Audrey!!!"

She may not be spoiling anything. She is reporting what "history" says about the pair - what you are reading is the reality of what occurred. They may not be the s..."

Exactly.

[Ryan]

I was joking with the spoilers comment. I'm aware this is a prequel.